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Australian Energy Producers Journal Australian Energy Producers Journal Society
Journal of Australian Energy Producers
RESEARCH ARTICLE (Non peer reviewed)

Australia well positioned to become a CCUS leader

Lein Mann Hansen A *
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A Rystad Energy, Oslo, Norway.


The APPEA Journal 62 S25-S28 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ21107
Accepted: 29 March 2022   Published: 13 May 2022

© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of APPEA.

Abstract

Australia’s carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) sector could be set for fresh boost as oil and gas players are investing heavily in large-scale projects. In 2020, Australia emitted around 499 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent (CO2e). Country-wide, only 2.5 million tonnes of CO2 is captured and stored annually in the Gorgon CCUS project. Starting its CCUS journey on the wrong foot, Australia’s ambitious Gorgon project suffered from cost overruns, delays and much lower capture rates than planned. Nevertheless, 3 years after startup we now see renewed momentum on the back of significant budgetary support from the Federal Government, in addition to inclusion of CCUS projects in the Emissions Reduction Fund and Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCU), which increased its value ever since. Large players are sizing up opportunities for CCUS in the country and to invest in research and development of next-generation CCUS as well as direct air capture technologies. Considering the vast CO2 storage potential in depleted oil and gas fields and saline aquifers, Rystad Energy have identified three potential storage hotspots in Australia: the northwestern hub, the mid-eastern hub and the southeastern hub. These storage hubs have a cumulative CO2 storage potential of 855 gigatonnes, that is located near to important industrial clusters and is sufficiently large, so it does not pose any barrier for CO2 storage.

Keywords: capture, carbon, carbon dioxide, CCS, CCU, CCUS, CO2, credits, decarbonisation, energy transition, enhanced oil recovery, Gorgon, liquefied natural gas, LNG, storage, utilisation.

Lein Mann Hansen is a Senior Analyst within Rystad Energy’s Energy Service Research, researching the supply chain market within the CCS and hydrogen space. Before that she focused on analysing energy suppliers’ trend, including financial performance, market share and M&A across the whole oilfield service and renewable value chain, in addition to working at the Research Department in the Norwegian Central Bank. She holds an MSc degree in Business & Economics from BI Norwegian Business School.